Lebanon lags in global index on infotech access Country ranks just 65th of 178

Tarek El Zein
Daily Star staff
Dec. 01, 2003

Lebanon currently ranks 65th among 178 countries in the first global index on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access, according to report published in late November.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said in a report that measures the overall ability of individuals to access and use ICTs in the different countries. Nations were classified into four “digital access categories,” namely high, upper, medium and low.

Lebanon ranked 5th in the medium access category after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait by scoring 0.48 out of a maximum score of one.

Worldwide, Lebanon ranked after Belarus and before Thailand, Romania and Turkey. Sweden was classified as the most technologically advanced ICT country with a score of 0.85, while Nigeria was labeled as the worst with 0.04.

“The study has gone beyond the organization’s traditional focus on telecommunication infrastructure, such as mobile phones and fixed telephone lines,” according to the report. “It combines eight variables, covering five areas, to provide an overall country score,” it said. The areas covered are the availability of infrastructure, affordability of access, educational level, quality of ICT services and internet usage.

“Many have used ICTs as a development enabler and government policies have helped them reach an impressive level of ICT access,” the report added. These policies, according to ITU, include major ICT projects such as the Dubai Internet City in the UAE (the highest ranking Arab nation), the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia (the highest ranking developing Asian nation) and the Cyber City in Mauritius (the highest standing African nation). “The Digital Access Index will be a useful tool for tracking the future advance of these ambitious emerging markets,” said the report.

In the next study, Lebanon could gain some momentum by launching some long awaited projects, such as the construction of the Beirut Emerging Technology Zone in Damour and the introduction of the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) service.

As for the ADSL broadband project, the director-general at the Telecommunications Ministry, Naji Andraos, told The Daily Star that two internet nodes are currently being built to boost Lebanon’s bandwidth from an estimated 72 to 152 mega bits per second.

It's very nice to know that this former minister said 2 nodes were going to be installed to "boost internet bandwidth" in this lousy country... But we're still begging, in 2005, i.e. 2 years after this "declaration" [a minister's declaration, can you believe it? i wouldn't even if my life depended on it] for logically fast and affordable internet connection.

What do we get?
the dekkeneh's cable guy, 40$/month for an overloaded LAN connection that should be 128k but that is fatally and waaaaay far from it. the kind of connection that stops at peak hours, and that shuts down when it's raining...

the "BROADBAND" access invented by GDS [monopole of connectivity in leb until now] and sold by legal and reckowned ISPs [for prices such as 50$/month for 128k, 110$/month for 256, 175$/month for 512!!!!!!!!!!]
furthermore, it's nearly impossible to get them. You have to apply, wait for 3 potential users in your building to request the connection, wait an extra 3 month, then aybe have it under the condition that this connection can be removed on the sole decision of the ISP without notice nor justification...

AND, *shame shame shame* we still have ISDN connection:
64k for 300$/month
128k for 500$/month
[maybe it got a little bit cheaper with the above connection]
But there, we have to add....
PHONE BILLS!
+ the upgrade of your phone line for it to be able to transmit isdn.

I'm Swedish... and broadband here sucks! They rob you and give you an excuse for Internet access, truth is I'd choose dialup over this joke of Internet access any day!

If it was slow I'd handle it, but the network infrastructure is a parody on what I'm used to. I got latencies of over 2 seconds and I can't access my email. Apparently they don't have a working wide area IP net so they use satellite links to link spots within Lebanon... which makes it so expensive!